Felon’s Alphabet: B

We, the incarcerated individuals housed here in Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) have been bad. Bad to the bone. We’ve been bad, not because we are bad people, but because we’ve engaged in bad behaviors. Behaviors bad enough to lock us away from the world at. Behaviors that require significant modification.

“B” is for behavioral change.

Now let’s keep it real. Not everyone who needs to change wants to change. That’s fine. This is not for them anyway. This is for you. You know who you are. You are sick and tired of being sick and tired, in trouble, in and out of jail, and always involved in some drama.

I have a potential solution. Begin by being bold; begin by admitting that if you go around talking to more than four people about the same issue, you’re not looking for a solution, you’re looking for attention.

But if it’s behavioral change you’re after, then begin by identifying the behavior you wish to change – and then choose. That’s your super power right there, no tights or cape needed here. You can simply choose.

Remember, and I know some of you know this: What you think you will feel, and what you feel you will act upon. So, for all our sakes, think positive thoughts.

If it sounds like I drank the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Kool-Aid, it’s because I have, by the grape flavored bucketful. This is great stuff.

Your thoughts belong to you, that means you, that means you are in charge. You are the boss. That voice in your head has zero business telling you what to do, getting you in deep legal doo-doo and making your life miserable. You’re already in a prison. Do not allow your thoughts to further hold you hostage. Take back control of your life. I won’t tell you it will be easy to do. I won’t tell you; that you won’t have setbacks. But I promise you, if you give it a go, one good time, you’ll see that this works.

After all, what do you have to lose? I leave you with this mantra: Think good, feel good, do good.